In the opening minutes of the Economic Forecast Conference, Anil Puri, director of the Woods Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting at Cal State Fullerton, painted a bleak picture of the world.
Just as the U.S. and the world started to emerge from an economy-crippling pandemic, war breaks out between Russia and Ukraine along with a deadly conflict in the Middle East, noted Puri, as he addressed hundreds of business leaders at the Disneyland Hotel on Oct. 19.
Domestically, partisan politics exist on both sides of the aisle, and the House of Representatives struggled to find its way in selecting a leader, Puri said.
“As we look around, it seems to be that the world just doesn’t want to heal,” the economist said. “And I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, what about the soft landing? Is it here? Is it going to happen? Well, economists have been predicting it for over a year.”
As always, partnering with Puri for the forecast was Mira Farka, professor of economics at Cal State Fullerton and the co-director of the Woods Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting.
The 29th annual event was co-presented by CSUF and the Orange County Business Council, which collaborates with leaders in academia and government to help bolster the county’s economic development.
“This event is really a symbolic gesture, a symbolic expression of the relationship that we have with the business community that runs deep, and we really value and hold these relationships dear,” CSUF President Sylvia Alva said. “They’re important to our students. They’re important to our community.”
Farka and Puri predict that a recession will likely hit Southern California and the nation during the second half of 2024.
However, unlike the Great Recession that crippled the global economy from 2008 to 2012, the economists predict it will be a normal or “garden variety” recession.
Ever since the Fed embarked on its unprecedented rate-hiking cycle, raising the interest rate…
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